The Scum Always Rises to the Top
is the eleventh episode of Survivor: Tajikistan. Summary Vahdat Back at camp, Oliver and Sophia celebrate quietly with each other and say they finally found the crack they needed. Arjun goes up to Kevin and Kevin begins to explain the vote. Arjun says that his second closest ally is gone now and Kevin says they both would've lost to Aliyah in the end because of how well she was playing. Arjun says they could've at least told him and Kevin apologizes and says they didn't want to risk an idol being player on Aliyah. In the morning, Arjun, Claire, Dustin and Lara meet up and discuss the vote. They determine the flipper was Moriah and Claire says they need to take her out. Dustin is surprised and asks if she's sure. Claire says other than because she's pissed, Moriah is their best shot at flipping people to join them. Lara asks if they would flip on the woman who saved them and Claire says Sophia and Oliver will do whatever they need to do to survive and they probably know Moriah isn't with them long-term. Lara goes up to Moriah and asks if they should talk. Moriah apologizes about the vote and says she feels really bad betraying Lara but Lara says she isn't mad and that it's okay. Lara tells Moriah that her alliance is planning to vote for her but she doesn't want to. Moriah asks if it's to get Sophia and Oliver to flip and Lara says that's exactly why. Moriah asks why Lara told her and Lara says she has wanted to make a move and it seems like the right time to do it. Moriah asks who she has in mind and Lara says Arjun or Kevin. Sophia, Oliver, Kevin, Prisha and Moriah are talking and Prisha asks who their next target should be. Moriah says she would want to vote for Claire. Kevin asks why and Moriah says Lara just told her that Claire threw her name out so she wants to return the favor. Oliver asks why she would do that and Moriah says Lara doesn't want to stay on a sinking ship. The group disbands but Moriah pulls Sophia aside. Sophia asks whats up and Moriah says Lara told her about Claire because Lara wants to blindside Arjun. Sophia asks why and Moriah says to split up Arjun and Kevin. Sophia asks who would be on board and Moriah says it would be the two of them, Oliver and Lara. Sophia says with the others split they could try to pull off a 4-3-2 vote and Moriah says it's risky but could work. Challenge The challenge is played and Dustin wins immunity. Dustin chooses to send Lara to exile island, and Lara smiles. Exile Island Lara gets to exile island and receives an idol clue. Lara is excited about being chose and immediately begins to search the island. Lara says she needs the idol especially with her trying to make a move this round so she won't give up until she has it. After a few hours, Lara is beginning to get tired but keeps searching. She eventually comes across a weird looking tree and in the roots is the idol. Lara is celebrating her idol find and says this is her ticket to final 3. Vahdat Lara, Moriah, Sophia and Oliver are talking and Sophia fills in Oliver on the situation and Oliver says he would love to vote out Arjun. Moriah says they need to make sure everybody votes the way they want because they need a 4-3-2 vote so one wrong vote could ruin the whole plan and cause one of them to go. Sophia says the vote should be 4 votes Arjun, 3 votes Moriah, and 2 votes Claire. Lara says she promises she's loyal to this plan because otherwise she wouldn't have put in the effort to make it work and Oliver says they trust her. Arjun, Claire, Dustin and Lara meet up and lock in their plan to vote for Moriah. Lara says she doesn't have many connections to help out and Arjun says he's going to talk to Kevin to see if they and Prisha will flip. Claire and Dustin go off alone and Dustin asks Claire why she's so adamantly against Moriah. Claire says she's offended that after being her friend and working together with her that she could just betray the two of them without looking back. Dustin says he's pissed too but Claire has to make sure to keep composure in front of Moriah for jury management and Claire says she knows. Arjun and Kevin are talking and Arjun says he really needs Kevin to flip. Kevin asks why they should and Arjun says they signed up to play together but the whole time they've had to play around each other and be in opposing alliances because of Kevin and Kevin says they had to do what was necessary to make sure one of the two of them wins. Arjun asks if Kevin will flip with Prisha and Kevin says not this round but that Arjun should be fine. Sophia, Oliver, Kevin, Prisha and Moriah meet up and Prisha asks if the vote is still Claire. Moriah says that's what she wants but is fine with hearing other ideas, but everybody agrees that voting out Claire would be best. Oliver asks if Lara is voting with them and Moriah says she should be unless she was lying to her. The group disbands but Moriah pulls aside Sophia and Oliver. Sophia says she's really worried about the plan since it's such tight numbers and Lara is a known flipped. Moriah agrees and says if she has the idol she could easily use it on Arjun or Claire and get Moriah out and Oliver asks if they're sure about the move and Sophia says she has doubts. Tribal Council Jeff asks Dustin if he needed immunity and Dustin says it's definitely good reassurance after the blindside last round. Jeff asks Moriah about the blindside and Moriah says that Aliyah was easily the biggest threat in the game so it only made sense to get her out while they still could. Jeff asks Sophia how she feels and Sophia says she's really glad she was spared last round and she thinks she found her footing in the tribe but can never feel safe after the first merge round. Jeff asks how many people feel in danger. Claire, Moriah, Lara, and Sophia all raise their hands. Claire asks why she does and Claire says she's in the minority and Arjun is guaranteed safety through Kevin so it's either her or Lara most likely going unless someone makes a move. Everyone casts their votes, followed by Jeff reading them. First vote... Moriah Moriah. That's two votes Moriah. Claire. Claire sighs. Claire. That's two votes Moriah, two votes Claire. Arjun Arjun looks very confused, as does Kevin. Moriah. That's three votes Moriah, two votes Claire, one vote Arjun. Arjun. Arjun sighs and Kevin looks at Prisha who looks equally confused. Arjun. That's three votes Moriah, three votes Arjun, two votes Claire, one vote left. Arjun gathers his stuff and Kevin looks pissed while Sophia smirks. Twelfth person voted out of Survivor: Tajikistan and the 3rd member of the jury... Arjun (4-3-2) Kevin gets up and hugs Arjun, apologizing over and over again. Arjun tells them it's okay but to not play so stupidly in the future so they can take home the money for them. Arjun and Kevin kiss and Prisha asks Moriah what happened which Moriah shrugs off. Arjun gets his torch snuffed and blows a kiss to Kevin on his way out. Lara waves goodbye to Arjun and Arjun flips her off as he walks away. Votes Lara voted Arjun: "Guess you just got outplayed, bud. I refuse to be taken down easily so I didn't really have any choice other than to flip on you. Now the final pair is gone, adios." Moriah voted Arjun: "Kevin is going to kill me. You're a great guy but you were Aliyah's second in command and you were almost as dangerous as her plus you have a loved one in the game so you're especially dangerous." Oliver voted Arjun: "With Kevin here we had limited time to get you out so Lara better be telling the truth because we need her to pull this off." Sophia voted Arjun: "Remember when you voted out my dad? And then tried voting out Oliver? Guess you should've just gotten me out by now because now my torch is lit and yours is the one getting snuffed." Arjun voted Moriah: "You're very good at this game and I wish it was you going home tonight, but this is just a formality since I can't vote for an ally of mine." Claire voted Moriah: "I'm offended you had the nerve to flip on your day 1 allies. I was loyal to you and Dustin was loyal to you but you broke that to make a move we could've made together later in the game. Good job." Dustin voted Moriah: "I love you girl but you were a total rat and selfishly put us in an awful position just to put yourself on top. People say the cream always rises to the top but in this case, the scum always rises to the top. And now you'll get out for making yourself seen." Kevin voted Claire: "I have no issue with you but we're on opposing sides and you threw out Moriah's name so you put this target on your own back by playing too messy this round. Plus trusting Lara is always a mistake eventually." Prisha voted Claire: "You're a sweet girl but this was the groups decision tonight so hopefully this will be an easy 6-3 vote." Final Words "I was just completely and utterly blindsided. I thought Kevin would be able to get their alliance to keep me but I guess they went behind Kevin's back just to blindside me. I'm assuming Lara flipped on me since she's a lying snake and it's a good move but I can't say I respect it that much. I'm hoping Kevin wins but at this rate they'll have to play a lot smarter if they want a chance." - Arjun, 9th Place